by Julia Yoder, Marketing & PR Director, Brookings Health System; SHSMD Advisory Board Member
As of 2026, SHSMD officially has a Small or Rural Task Force focused on building community and resources to help small and rural strategy, marketing and communications professionals thrive, overcome challenges and move their organizations forward. In this article, I’ll give a history of how the task force evolved from an identified gap and grass roots efforts, introduce our Small or Rural Task Force members, and shine a light on how the task force plans to support members in 2026. But first…
What is Small or Rural?
Perhaps one of the hardest things to know is who falls into the classification of small or rural. The federal government has many different designations for health care organizations who care for populations in rural and underserved areas. We typically see professionals who identify as working in small or rural facilities coming from these designations:
A unique characteristic of these professionals is not just that their organization is small, but their department is also small, many times staffed with five or fewer people. They also are often tasked with multiple areas of responsibility that may include marketing, strategy, PR, communications, foundation, call center or other roles. They are typically working managers, individuals who need content creation skills and social media prowess as well as the industry knowledge to weigh-in on organizational leadership decisions.
Solutions providers are also important members of the small or rural community. These partners understand the unique needs designated healthcare organizations face, including healthcare professional shortages, challenging payer mixes and reimbursements, and medically underserved populations.
An Identified Gap
The SHSMD Advisory Board identified serving the needs of members from small or rural organizations as a gap in 2020. According to SHSMD President Emeritus Alan Shoebridge, the advisory board realized it lacked small or rural representation and made a strategic shift toward inclusion. Representatives from small or rural organizations were added to the advisory board roster starting with Terri Flood in 2022 and then myself in 2024.
After I joined the board, Terri and I began collaborating intentionally to develop content geared towards small or rural members. We led the virtual member meet-up, DEIB Challenges to Overcome for Small & Rural Hospitals, in April 2024, followed with a blog post, infographic and News Scan feature in May 2024.
Based on member survey feedback, SHSMD’s staff long recognized a need to create content relevant to small or rural facilities. They actively asked for conference and education proposals geared to the needs of small or rural members. That fall at SHSMD Connections 2024, SHSMD’s staff also developed a new Small or Rural Roadmap to help guide and connect professionals from those organizations to the content most pertinent to them. One of the sessions in that small or rural roadmap included a panel discussion on budgetary challenges featuring Rachel Lott, then the chief communications officer at Hillsdale Hospital, in Hillsdale, MI, and the co-host of the podcast, Rural Health Rising.
In addition, Terri and I hosted the first in-person small or rural member meet-up at SHSMD Connections 2024. Mark Crow, president of Tenth Crow Creative, sponsored the session as a solution provider who works on branding and marketing projects for small or rural facilities. Meet-up attendees requested their own MySHSMD Online Member Community for networking, collaboration and discussion on specific topics pertinent to small or rural needs which SHSMD staff created post-conference.
A Grass Roots Movement
In addition to the formal SHSMD work started in 2024, a grass roots idea took shape. At SHSMD Connections 2023, Director of Marketing, Business Development & Call Center Sara Meyer from Wood County Hospital in Bowling Green, OH, and Chief Marketing Officer Khrista Boster from Woodlawn Health in Rochester, IN, connected with Diane Markham, marketing director for Arbor Health in Morton, WA, after Diane’s workshop presentation.
The three discussed how they enjoyed networking with other professionals from small or rural organizations and how valuable the conversations on common challenges were, especially for Diane and Khrista who were both one-person departments at the time. They also talked about how they didn’t want to wait a full year until the next SHSMD conference to connect with other small or rural strategy and marketing professionals.
Their solution: once a month host a virtual roundtable where professionals from rural organizations across the country can bounce ideas off one another, share best practices, brainstorm and openly collaborate. They collected business cards from other small or rural conference attendees and began to meet virtually once a month.
The success of their Rural Marketing Group was featured on a SHSMD Rapid Insights podcast, recorded at SHSMD Connections 2024, a year after they formed their initial concept.
Growing in 2025
With the ball started in 2024, SHSMD continued to answer small or rural member’s request for tailored content and connections in 2025. Myself and Terri Flood invited other SHSMD members who we knew were passionate about small or rural healthcare priorities to help plan and build community. Our small or rural team included Sara Meyer, Khrista Boster, Mark Crow and Rachel Lott.
Accomplishments the team made in 2025 include:
SHSMD Connections 2025 continued to have a Small or Rural Road Map for conference attendees as well as another small or rural member meet-up. We also offered ID ribbons for small or rural members to help identify one another at conference and to build community.
Continuing to Build in 2026
The small or rural team started in 2025 is now officially SHSMD’s Small or Rural Task Force. We are focused on building community, resources and education for SHSMD’s small or rural members. Our 2026 goals include:
- Holding quarterly Catalyst Conversations, formerly known as Member Meet-Ups, to give small or rural members a safe space to share common challenges with each other. I will be hosting our first Catalyst Conversation, Expanding Support & Community for Small & Rural Members, on March 25 at 12 p.m. CT. Register here to join me. Sara Meyer and Khrista Boster will be hosting our second one on May 7, Planning and Executing Community Events.
- Supporting the Small or Rural Certificate Course, Health Care Marketing for Rural, Independent and Resource-Limited Hospitals which will run live June 4 – 23. The course includes six sessions from seasoned professionals who understand the unique environment small or rural providers face. Cost is $300 for SHSMD members and $550 for non-members. Register now to join.
- Providing content and connections at SHSMD Connections 2026, including hosting in-person networking for small or rural members.
- Growing our online community on MySHSMD to assist one another with the unique challenges we face in small or rural healthcare facilities.
How You Can Contribute
Those of us in small or rural healthcare organizations excel at do-it-yourself. The same holds true to create content and community catered to us. SHSMD is a professional membership group of the American Hospital Association. That means resources are driven not just by members’ needs, but by members’ contributions to developing resources other members can use.
To that end, if you want to see more resources and opportunities for small or rural members, please raise your hand and volunteer. Ways you can help:
- Join and participate in the MySHSMD community. To take part, you’ll need to join the small or rural organizations group.
- Volunteer with SHSMD. In order to raise awareness of the needs of small or rural members, we need to have voices from our community within SHSMD’s committees and leadership structure. You can choose what level and time commitment you feel comfortable giving. Learn more about volunteer opportunities.
- Share a case study. It could be as simple as posting a quick win on the MySHSMD community. You could also write an article and send it to SHSMD’s team to consider posting on their blog and News Scan. Or you can put together a presentation proposal for a future SHSMD annual conference. We all have success and best practices that others in small and rural organizations can learn from.
The evolution of SHSMD’s Small or Rural Task Force reflects the power of collaboration, member-driven ideas, and a shared commitment to supporting professionals in small or rural healthcare organizations. We are creating meaningful connections, educational opportunities, and resources tailored to the unique challenges of small or rural settings. Whether through virtual conversations, conference sessions, or online community, there are many ways to engage, contribute, and grow together. By participating, sharing experiences, and volunteering, small or rural professionals can help shape the future of healthcare strategy, marketing, and communications—and ensure no one navigates these challenges alone.